Miss Teen USA Slammed For Offensive Tweets

Over the weekend, after winning her crown title of Miss Teen USA, former Miss Texas Teen Karlie Hay became caught up in a social media skirmish after social media users called everyone's attention to her repeated use of racial slurs on her personal Twitter account.

People.com/ Twitter.com

The Longer Version of It:

Shortly after being crowned Miss Teen USA and thrust into the national spotlight, Hay was pushed into some bad lighting after users revealed she had sent out tweets that did not reflect well on her. Users on Twitter had gone through the winner's previous tweets to discover several posts in which she repeatedly the "n-word".

Soon after the racially insensitive tweets caught on amongst the Twitter chatter, Hay's account was made private and the pageant winner took to her Instagram account to respond to the backlash. Pointing back to "personal struggles" from several years ago that she claims are no longer "representative of who I am as a person," Hay admitted to using "language publicly in the past which I am not proud of and that there is no excuse for."

The Miss Universe Organization which acts as the parent company of Miss Teen USA issued a statement that stood by the crown winner stating, "As Karlie stated, she was in a different place in her life and made a serious mistake she regrets and for which she sincerely apologizes." The organization condemned Hay's language stating: "The language Karlie Hay used is unacceptable at any age and in no way reflects the values of the Miss Universe Organization." They went on to say that they were "committed to supporting her continued growth."

People.com/ Twitter.com

What Else:

The pageant which was visibly lacking in diversity had already taken hits from social media users who lambasted the judges of the pageant for their selection of the pageant's top five lineup of contestants all of whom were blonde, white women. Chrissy Teigen led the charge after taking the panel to task for their lack of diversity. "Wow how can we choose from such a diverse bunch," the model tweeted.

Twitter.com

Twitter.com

Twitter.

The Takeaway:

It's hard to get everyone on board with equal rights and treatment. The controversy comes just a month after the pageant received praise for withdrawing its swimwear portion of the competition in a push for equality and feminism.

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